Royal Hideaway Playacar: Fantastic Vacation

This was our first time in Mexico. Hotel grounds were impeccable; service was delightful; food was scrumptious.Loved the aqua aerobics; the free champagne at check in; the quick turn around re room service between 11 pm-7 a.m. Appreciated the hotel bathrobe and slippers and champagne, chocolates and fruits waiting for us upon arrival. Make full use of your concierge assigned to your unit. Loved the boxed lunch to go since we were leaving early. Thankful that the all inclusive shuttle only arri [... read more]ved 30 minutes later than stated but we got to the airport well in time. One free ride on the speed boats; evening entertainment in the theatre every day. would be excellent additions. Aqua aerobics instructor on Wednesday July 17 was excellent forgot his name- but he was “in it””

Occidental Arenas Blancas: 5/10 Occidental Arenas Blancas

Many things were missed even though the staff was extremely helpful and friendly. The place was good as a stay and location within Varadero. However, many elements were missing or incomplete, such as the phones that never work, dining in restaurants that were never explained well so a week of restaurant booking is missed, dining rooms that are not kept in healthy conditions affecting the food safety and making the dining experience to the tourists extremely exhausting and uncomfertable, not  [... read more]giving a tour of the grounds and explaining what is available to do.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: July 2025

So our overall experience is say was a 2/5. The resort was clean, the staff was friendly and helpful when asking for directions. The beach is man made which was lovely bc you could still see the ocean while swimming in the beach area as there is no access to the ocean as it’s rock faced. You got to swim with the fish in the beach as well which was super cool. However we experienced hurricane weather as Beryl hit near by, causing the resort to basically close down for safety purposes which wa s c [... read more]omepltelt understandable however trying to get food was a nightmare! The buffet was open for a period of time and it was utter chaos everyone treated it as if we were going through Covid and the toilet paper incident!! It was madness and utmost disgusting as I had a little one to feed… and the morning after the storm we were given food but it was refried beans, tortillas and watery eggs! It was nasty! The buffet was nothing special- kinda gross at times however the al la cart meals were excellent! I’d deff reccomend paying extra to eat there each time! Also don’t get scammed into the VIP tour they failed to mention was a speech about there clubs and to get you to buy room from them in order to get cheaper tickets to Xcaret… a waste of 2 hours of our day!!

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Disappointed with Barcelo Management

We stayed at the Barcelo Beach Resort in Riviera Maya. Unfortunately we were placed in a room that had a broken air conditioner and when we brought this up with management they told us that it would be fixed. They said that the hotel is fully booked and they cant move us over to another room unless we are willing to upgrade to a premium suite. It is very dissapointing that Barcelo was not able to solve our AC issue for the entire stay and we had a temperature of 28 C in our room which was unb [... read more]earable. If it wasnt for the ceiling fan we wouldn't be able to sleep. Vey disappointed with the Barcelo staff and management who were unable to provide a solution and instead wanted to make us spend more money on a room upgrade.

Barcelo Solymar: Terrible resort

I have been to the resort a few times and it has never been up to the standards it used to have. It is only the staff( which I have become close friends with) that there is a reason to go there. The pool had to be closed one day because the water was green and cloudy and had to be cleaned. Buffet was below standard as was expected ( ate off resort most days).I was in a bungalow which was fine but heard the main hotel rooms were pretty bad. This was my 25th trip to Varadero so I knew what to expe [... read more]ct.

Royal Hideaway Playacar: Quiet resort

Smaller resort - all villas with separate concierge. Food was excellent and the bars carried all top brands - any cocktail was possible. Beautiful theatre which was never even half full; only 3 nights of entertainment Distance to resort was over an hour from airport.

Occidental Punta Cana: Beautiful Beach

The hotel was older, but very clean. Our room was in a nice central location, on the 3rd floor, with a high vaulted ceiling with a balcony overlooking one of the pools. The food in the buffet was average, not a huge selection, but okay. The specialty dining rooms were better. There were 3 large pools that looked lovely in photographs, however the majority of the pool area was so shallow (less than 2 feet deep) it wasn't possible to actually swim, and because the pools were so shallow the wat [... read more]er was so warm it was like stepping into bathwater - no way to cool off. The beach however, was beautiful. We were there in early June and it wasn't crowded. The sand was soft and the turquoise water was crystal clear. The entertainment was minimal - there were a couple of good shows. If you are looking for a quiet relaxing vacation you will enjoy the resort. The transfer from the airport to the hotel was terrible. After waiting on the bus to leave for over 45 minutes we finally took an Ubr

Barcelo Puerto Vallarta: Amazing resort!

Beautiful grounds surrounded by the mountains, the views are magnificent, the rooms are spacious and clean with a daily supply of drinks, the food and drinks in the buffet are delicious! I'd give solid 4 stars to this hotel!

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Outstanding!!!

We stayed for 10 days in the Oceanfront Jr Suite. WOW is all we can say. The pools were close to the resorts and the ocean was a short 1 minute walk from there. The 4 restaurant's on site all were extremely great food. The buffet was delicious from breakfast and a quick bite in the afternoon. Rooms were clean and spacious. My only complain would be the very stuffy elevators with no A/C. but that's extremely picky of me.

Barcelo Bavaro Palace: Terrible Resort!

This is the absolute worst resort I have ever been to. I did not have running water for 2 days. The staff stole my camera and went through my belongings. I had the do not disturb sign up and they still came into my room while my girlfriend was naked. 90% of the staff are so rude and have the biggest attitude problem. I would not spend my money on this resort. Spend your money wisely, go to Jamaica or Mexico...

Barcelo Maya Tropical: Perfect resort!

The Barcelo Maya group of hotels are amazing, great weather, excellent food & service is outstanding! The hotels in this group are very clean & beautiful! Snorkelling right off the beach & lots of beach chairs available & also lots of seating & entertainment at the pool, great job well done by all! The restaurants had excellent food & service, the Marenostrum & SanteFe were our favourites, also Le Fuentes is very good. The service at the buffets was great & breakfast items along with the omelett [... read more]e stations were very good. The beach grill had very good service & soft serve ice cream. The Pueblo piano bar in the Colonial lobby is a great spot after all day in the sun. Excellent , friendly service! All great hosts, especially Martha & Denaly, thank you very much for a fantastic holiday!

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Great resort

The resort was clean. i’ve been to many different countries Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Vadero has the best beach They were doing some update repairs, you need to remember you’re going to Cuba. The food is the food and yes, there is shortages of drinks, food etc. but we go for the beach, to disconnect and relax so it suits our purpose 100% and we will return. If you are going to Cuba for the food and drinks party, etc. This is not the country for you.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Better than we imagined!

Our visit April 2024 was amazing. We went prepared for the worst and got above and beyond service from the resort. Yes the resort is in a process of repairs. To be expected after a lengthy time closed to tourist due to Covid with the added many tropical storms on a already weakened economy. Anyone would be hard pressed to be perfect. The staff at the resort made us feel at home and welcomed. The food was delicious. It's true that they don't have bread and other typical Canadian staples ev [... read more]eryday or at all. But we never went hungry we tried new things. We even tried food off resort and at local restaurants. The only issue we had in our room was TV was out when we arrived. We didn't go to watch TV though. My hubby likes the noise when I get ready to go out. Also our safe didn't work. Not a deal breaker I was prepared for everything. I've read other post with people complainants about bugs and stuff. Every tropical place we have been to had had some form of bugs. In the room or lizard. What do you expect the place is built in tropics and on sand? On that note never even seen an ant in our room. Our room was clean the bed was brand new and more comfortable than my bed at home. The AC was in top notch working order as well. I love the fact of how close the resort is to all the shops along the main drag. How convenient it is to get taxi and other forms of transportation. There are shortages but always had drinks and fun to be had. We will be back again. Can't wait to see what all changes with the repairs. The rep for Air Transit could be more friendly and actually pretend to get your request looked after for excursions and Airport VIP room. We will come back again. She kinda reminded me of how it felt in Mexico that your an annoyance to their day. As for the reps poor service I do not hold it against Air Tansit their planes and overall I have found to be way better than others like Sunwing.

Occidental Papagayo: Worth a visit

Resort was lovely, our room was clean, functional , comfortable beds and a well stocked mini bar. All the staff were amazing friendly, polite and always with a smile. Our room was a fair hike from the main lobby and I blessed the shuttle driver every day. With the heat and humidity it would have proved a challenge to walk that distance there and back. Our main grimace was the buffet, an abundance of food but pretty much the same every day and looked like a variety of left overs re-invented. How [... read more]ever we were never hungry. I would return to the resort. We enjoyed our vacation very much.

Barcelo Maya Caribe: Amazing Resort!! We will be back!

Where to start about this incredible resort! It is truly a 4 in 1. 4 resorts for the price of one. The grounds were beautiful with palm trees everywhere. The beaches were so well kept and stunning. The food was good and a lot of selection. The a la cartes restaurants were a nice change from the buffet. The shopping mall and vendors to shop from had lots to choose for souvenirs. My kids loved the water slides that were included. The extra water slides were a bit pricey for what it was so we skipp [... read more]ed it. There was an awesome arcade for hot days to take a break. Overall our family loved the resort and all it had to offer and we will be back.

Occidental Papagayo: Would not return

This hotel is definitely not for anyone who likes to keep moving. There was essentially nothing to do here unless you're made of money and able to pay for excursions (for which you had no choice but to book through the hotel) and all of which were expensive. The pool closes down at 7, and there were only an hour long piano/guitar show in the lobby every other night. I will say the rooms were clean, however I slept terrible as I kept hearing wild animals running over the roof. Turns out the ANIMA [... read more]LS were actually IN THE CEILING of our room, which wasn't fixed until the day before we left. The food was mediocre at best, and the restaurant areas were not ideally situated throughout the resort. Would not return here, and would not recommend it unless your preference is to sit and drink at the pool every day until 7pm. We waited 4 years (due to a cancelled trip due to covid) to take this vacation, spent a lot of money to go here, and feel like we did not get our money's worth at all.

Barcelo Solymar: Amazing resort

It was my 6th time going to that resort and I love it. Love the people, love the beach and the food was ok. It was my second time this year going and I will definitely go back. I just wish that they would do more activities at the beach! But overall I love it!!!!

Occidental Papagayo: Needs improvement

Lots of wildlife on the resort which is great. Most of the staff didn't seem happy at all. Room was in rough shape, buffet way too small. Sitting area a little small. No coffee before 7am. Beach isn't accessible during high tide.

Barcelo Maya Tropical: Fantastic Vacation

The resort had all we needed: room was clean, beds comfortable. Good entertainment. Beach was so warm. A bit rough but enjoyable. Pool was great too. We enjoyed the double decker bus that goes to all other resorts, overall when going to a la carte restaurants, which BTW where really good ( at least the 4 we tried). Overall a great trip

Barcelo Maya Palace: Excellent resort

The resort was very clean. We could see empolyees cleaning the areas around the pools. The beach was raked every morning. The deck chairs were put back in place with a table between every two chairs. The grounds crew working on the grass. The busyness of the employees did not inconvenience us in anyway. The hotel rooms were clean.